Vol 7 Chapter 25

The two spells summoned for the third time responded to his command a beat slower than before. However, their effect was undeniable.

Whoosh!!

With a deafening explosion, flames so red they were almost white and an ice storm that easily exceeded two or three times the size of the log cabin appeared. Kion-hyung must have been surprised, as he could be seen jumping up and taking a defensive stance beyond the Blizzard.

Watching the fierce flames and massive storm firmly standing guard on either side like sentinels, obedient to his overwhelming magical power, Kapros quietly raised the corners of his mouth in a smile. This was the magic he had strived to perfect finally in Superior's mental world. He had wanted to recreate exactly what he had seen in Superior's memories at Kor's cave.

Timing the spells that were identical to what Superior had said he had faithfully created following the banner that attack was the best defense, Kapros only concentrated to withdraw the magic when the huge trees caught in the two spells' area of effect began groaning in pain, struggling to endure.

"Whew..."

Only after the spells disappeared did slight fatigue from the concentration hit him. But his mind felt lighter than ever. He had confirmed that what he had achieved in the mental world worked sufficiently here too.

"Hyung?"

Noticing that hyung was still staring blankly this way, repeatedly opening and closing his eyes even though everything had gone quiet, Kapros called out to him uncertainly.

'Why is he like that? Did he get caught up in it wrongly and have an error?'

Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, as hyung let out a big "whoa" before rushing over like an arrow and started shouting while gesturing wildly.

"Wow, what was that just now? What was that!"

"What do you mean..."

"That last one! It's awesome!! So cool! Holy shit!"

Though Kapros trailed off in confusion, hyung's extremely excited eyes already seemed blind to everything else.

"It was even the biggest magic I've ever seen! You bastard, Kar. You weren't playing around but working hard all this time! I knew it!"

Come to think of it, those who weren't mages themselves would rarely have the chance to see such massive magic. He had forgotten that mages were rare in MIST. Hyung, who was patting Kapros's back while marveling even more than him, finally calmed down and clenched both fists.

"Great. Hyung's motivation is burning too! From today on, we're doing infinite special training!"

Seeing hyung's bright expression made Kapros feel motivated too. Though he was actually already in special training, hearing that hyung would train too made him clench his fist involuntarily as he renewed his determination to achieve even better progress.

And so they each found comfortable spots and began intense training in the peaceful elven forest.

The contact from Jin Je-hwan came several days after their last meeting.

It took Kapros quite a while after seeing the briefly arrived message asking [ Is it okay to come? ] before he could be certain it was from Jin Je-hwan.

After sending back [ Today is fine. ] and receiving no response, making him wonder about the person, Je-hwan suddenly appeared around evening as the sun was slowly setting, along with the intercom bell.

"...You came."

Even with Kapros's poor intuition, he could tell that the aura felt behind Je-hwan's expressionless face now showed signs of joy. Je-hwan, who had entered through the opened door, answered with a gentle smile.

"Yeah."

Perhaps because he usually looked very cold, Je-hwan's smiling face tended to feel twice as unfamiliar as others'. Kapros hesitated for a moment but turned around without showing it as he spoke.

"Want some water?"

"I'm fine."

As if already familiar despite having only visited a few times, Je-hwan looked around the house interior before shaking his head at Kapros's question and again showing that smile that made viewers feel strange as he fixed his gaze intently.

"...I missed you."

"Uh..."

Unable to know how to respond, Kapros let his words trail off awkwardly, and Je-hwan silently let out just a fragment of laughter before returning to his usual familiar expression.

"Before, were you okay the next day?"

The next day before... Just as Kapros was about to ask what he meant, he realized it referred to the day Je-hwan had last visited. Along with that came flesh-colored memories flooding his mind.

"...I was fine."

"I see."

After saying just that, Je-hwan naturally went to sit on the sofa before the atmosphere could become strange. While Kapros watched wondering what he was going to do, Je-hwan took out a black bag he had brought inside his jacket and opened his mouth while looking this way.

"Is it okay if I use the computer a bit?"

"What for?"

"I think I need to connect and fix some things."

To think he would... Not content with touching Kapros's computer as soon as he arrived, now he was boldly saying he would connect his own computer and fix things, leaving Kapros feeling for the second time that he didn't know how to respond.

"Didn't you already do security or whatever before?"

"Looking at the systems installed here last time, the overall specs are too low, so I want to upgrade them a bit."

"I don't find anything inconvenient..."

"Have you ever had it checked since moving into this house?"

Kapros momentarily lost words to answer.

"...No."

"Then think of this as taking the opportunity. I won't do anything bad."

It wasn't that he was worried about that since there was nothing special on the computer... but Je-hwan's expression, as he had already started working with his hands after booting up two computers without even looking this way, looked too serious to interrupt.

'What's this suddenly...'

Though Kapros had never once thought the computer installed in his house was inconvenient, was it really that serious to Je-hwan, a self-proclaimed "person good with computers"? Feeling the strange tension that had briefly flowed between them break, he sat down beside him to watch what exactly he was trying to do.

'If anything goes wrong, I can just make him pay for it.'

Thinking that while watching Je-hwan's concentrated profile, the image of Yu-wan he had seen in MIST overlapped, and suddenly Min-hoo whom he had talked to recently came to mind. Min-hoo who had seemed to be passionately active in another reality, just like Je-hwan now handling programs with a face as serious as when wielding a sword.